


Resentment

by Artistic_Gamer



Series: Izuku haunts class 1-A [39]
Category: BnHA, Boku no Hero Academia, My Hero Academia, mha
Genre: Aizawa and Nedzu argue, But when does he not, Ghost!Midoriya, Midoriya haunts 1-A, Mineta makes a fuckign fool of himself, Other, Shinsou and Kouda take the test, the practical is here and no one is happy about it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:01:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27857225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artistic_Gamer/pseuds/Artistic_Gamer
Summary: Aizawa goes to appeal to Nedzu for the practical, and the students all participate in different groups than planned.
Relationships: Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead & Midoriya Izuku, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead & Nedzu, Shinsou Hitoshi & Kouda
Series: Izuku haunts class 1-A [39]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1553269
Comments: 66
Kudos: 677





	Resentment

Once everyone was as settled as they would get, Aizawa was out the door, walking with quick steps to talk to Nedzu about the practical. He was worried - for the class, for Midoriya - and he knew the practical couldn’t stay the way it was. He wasn’t unaware of how close Nedzu had gotten to the kid, his confidence was strong.

The conversation went south very, very quickly. Nedzu had a very different outlook on the situation than Aizawa himself did, and the two butt heads horribly until it devolved into arguing. Aizawa brought up Midoriya and his reaction, Nedzu reassured - infuriatingly calm, as if disagreeing was in any way rational - that Midoriya had been coming to him for All Might’s classes for months and that wouldn’t change. Aizawa argued the students would fare no better, and Nedzu stated that the students weren’t so bullheaded. Bitterly, Aizawa lashed out and implied he didn’t know his own students very well, and he wasn’t surprised when Nedzu kicked him out, signs of impatience finally coloring his tone and posture. Aizawa would never admit it out loud but he was glad to finally make the principle react emotionally for once - he often wondered if Nedzu truly felt anything at all. 

The walk down the hallways and back to the classroom was a heated journey. The argument was on loop in his head, and what frustrated him most was the idea that he couldn’t do much else than what he was already doing. In his heart and mind, Toshinori was no longer suited to be in the practical at the  _ least, _ kicking the bastard out of U.A wouldn’t be much of an exaggeration either, he knew, and Aizawa didn’t understand why Nedzu refused to see eye-to-eye. In the back of his mind, he wondered if Nedzu cared about the students, and Midoriya, as much as he claimed he did. 

Returning back to the classroom however, seeing Midoriya properly interacting with his students and seeing everyone’s smiles calmed him down. The atmosphere was warm, homely, thawing him from the inside out as hope blossomed in his chest, spread to his numb fingers and frigid toes. Everyone was showering the boy with attention, and Aizawa was more than happy to sit on the sidelines and watch, decompressing to the sound of laughter, echoing and solid alike. Even when the students couldn’t see him anymore the revelation that he could do it again kept smiles on their faces, and when he dismissed them early it was met with relieved sighs from most of the students. Aizawa didn’t blame them. He wasn’t surprised when Bakugo, Todoroki, and Shinsou weren’t as thrilled, but with a bit of force and a sterner look they were sent home with the rest.

He took the moment of silence to talk to Midoriya properly about Toshinori. He was kicking himself for not doing it sooner, but he figured better late than never, so he called the two ghosts from the ceiling to talk. Iida was a calm presence next to Midoriya, level-headed and peaceful compared to the aura of anxiety and nervousness that seemed to follow Midoriya everywhere he went. It only got worse with the topic. He offered to postpone the conversation but Midoriya was adamant, stating he just wanted it over with. Aizawa didn’t blame him.

He asked, tentative and careful, what exactly had triggered him to begin with about All Might and specifically why he avoided the man at all.

‘I’m not angry,’ Midoriya typed, and from what Aizawa had heard about Midoriya’s reaction he was inclined to believe him. ‘He makes me sad. Very sad.’ He paused, lip wobbling dangerously. ‘He was my hero. He still is, kinda? It’s hard to explain but...I’m sad when I see him. I’m sad I let him down. I’m sad I did what I did, and that it hurt him, and that he’s sad about it, and that it hurt so many others. I didn’t mean to.’ The lights flickered the longer he typed, his form blurring at the edges as the window panes in the room rattled. ‘I didn’t think anyone would care. But they did, I know that now,. He reminds me of it, when I was so sad that I did something and I can’t ever go back.’

Aizawa leaned back in his chair and listened to the sound of his heart shattering. Painful though it was to hear, he was thankful he had asked. He had just assumed Midoriya had been avoiding All Might out of bitterness or anger, maybe for the class’ sake, but he had been very, very wrong. All Might himself wasn’t the problem, not entirely, it was the memories he carried for Midoriya. The information didn’t change his feelings towards the man, not in the slightest - he was still the core issue and if Midoriya wouldn’t hold a grudge,  _ he _ certainly would - but he was thankful Midoriya wasn’t keeping a chokehold on anger and hatred. No, he was holding onto grief and sadness instead. Both horrible, for very different reasons.

_ Do you remember what he said to you? _ Aizawa asked. Midoriya nodded, went to type. 

‘He was mean. But it was true, and I knew it. That was what made me so sad. If All Might said it…’ Midoriya shrugged.

The train of thought wasn’t finished, but Aizawa understood. If All Might, his idol had said such a thing, then it had to be true. If that was true, there was no hope for him.

He breathed in once, held it, then exhaled. If memories were what triggered him, that posed yet another problem he had to address.

_ What about Bakugo? Does he ever upset you? _

The two were on better terms than he had hoped, and Midoriya didn’t seem to be bothered by Bakugo’s presence from his behavior while visible. But that didn’t mean it never happened at all.

‘Sometimes, when he explodes things. It’s scary and it burns,’ Midoriya typed with shaking hands.

Aizawa wished in that moment, desperately, that he could go back into the past somehow. Slap some sense into Bakugo’s younger self and drag Toshinori up and down the garden path if that’s what it took.

_ Just his Quirk? _ Midoriya nodded, sad and tired, and Aizawa’s shattered heart bled for him.  _ Okay, _ he said gently.  _ Okay. We’re done. _

Midoriya wiped at his eyes and sniffled, and with a quick, shared glance with Iida over Midoriya’s fluffy head, they joined forces in attempting to cheer the kid up. It worked slowly, Aizawa showing off with his capture weapon and Iida speeding around with Midoriya in a strong grip, held tightly to his chest, and Aizawa could truly and completely relax for the first time in almost two weeks at the sight. Iida was grinning, wide and joyful as Midoriya squealed with glee, laughing and shouting as they did laps around the room.

In the face of such innocent joy, he felt safe enough to think, the cogs turning in his sleep-deprived head until he could make sense of the pieces. He had no idea how they were meant to focus on the practical when chaos had erupted so sudden and violent. All Might was a  _ part _ of the fucking thing. How would they work around that? Could they get a replacement for tomorrow? Were there any other teachers available? Mentally going through the checklist in his head proved futile - the only one available was the Principle and they weren’t putting him in to begin with for a reason. He was too quick witted, too slow to hesitate for the kids to keep up with him. They wouldn’t stand a chance. Besides, there was already an odd number of kids, Cementoss had a group of three. Could they manage to lump them up even more? But that would defeat the point, wouldn’t it?

Hatred had cooled from a boil into a simmer in his stomach, for Toshinori as well as Nedzu. He couldn’t believe Nedzu wasn’t on his side, and dread settled across his chest and threatened to suffocate him. Once Nedzu made up his mind it took nothing short of All Might level force to change it. If he couldn’t get through to the Principle - not immediately, he vowed to himself it wasn’t over - then he couldn’t leave the practical like it was. Not entirely.

Bakugo and Uraraka had been paired against All Might, and if he left that be, Bakugo at the least would fail without a doubt. Shinsou and Todoroki were also the worst choices to pit against All Might. The three of them were the closest to Midoriya, the most protective, the most insulted by it all. No one was a good match for him now, not really, and it wasn’t fair in the slightest. Anyone he chose had at least a fifty percent chance of letting their anger get the better of them. If he was thinking logically instead of wishfully, that percentage rose even higher.

Todoroki, Shinsou, and Bakugo were out, he couldn’t doom them like that. Uraraka, Kirishima, Tokoyami, Aoyama, Ashido...most of the class were wild cards. He had no idea if they would take the test seriously or go charging towards All Might in rage, not that he blamed them. 

If facing against All Might was reliant on focus and self-restraint, then who fit that criteria? 

Saying that Tsuyu was unaffected would not only be giving her too much credit, but would be insulting, in her opinion. She was calm, rational. Not cold-hearted. 

The day of the practical arrived and she was just shy of asleep on her feet, exhaustion weighing her limbs down like lead poles and leaving her swaying on the spot. Izuku’s image had haunted her dreams or left her restless. He was so tiny, so cute and sweet and kind, and if it weren’t for Aizawa she would’ve camped out in the classroom just to sit by the sweetheart and chat. It was obvious he was desperate for proper interaction, and Tsuyu was honestly desperate to give it. His injuries had certainly jarred her as well, left her shaken. He had never let on he was in any pain at all, and Tsuyu wondered through her foggy head if Recovery Girl’s quirk would work on Izuku. It was worth a shot, right? Was that even how it worked?

Aizawa looked angry, had been since yesterday, and she blinked calmly at him in an attempt to help soothe. She couldn’t do much else. All Might stood with the other teachers looking pale and out of place. No one in class 1-A looked happy about it, least of all Bakugo, Todoroki, and Shinsou, who were glaring so hard at the man she wouldn’t have been surprised to see him burst into flames. Aizawa seemed like he was restraining himself from doing something, and Tsuyu was sure she didn’t want to know what from. It was a somber affair, somber than she’d thought it’d be, and Aizawa teetered on apologetic the longer they all stood there, no one meeting anyone’s eyes except for Aizawa, hard stares and determined faces. 

Tsuyu hoped he didn’t take it to mean they would be logical about all of it. She knew, even from brief glances, that it was the face of a mass of students all wanting to go for the throat, wanting to be given the chance of beating All Might into the dirt. Tsuyu rubbed the crust from her eyes, prayed it wouldn’t be her and knew that was why she would receive it.

Everyone was paired and given a hero. Kaminari and Bakugo against Power Loader, Koda and Shinsou against Present Mic. Todoroki and Jirou against Aizawa himself, Aoyama and Sero against Thirteen, Momo and Mineta against Midnight, and Uraraka and Tokoyami against Ectoplasm. Ashido and Hagakure were against Snipe, and Sato, Kirishima, and Ojiro were all grouped together to fight Cementoss. Which left her and Shoji against All Might. She wasn’t even mad. Dread made her insides sink into the floor, the weight of All Might’s presence alone pressing against her shoulders and threatening to suffocate her. She traded a look of resignation with Shoji and went to stand next to him, hiding in her classmate’s shadow from the jealous stares that burned her skin. She wouldn’t be surprised if she started smoking.

Tsuyu swallowed hard, weathered the look of Aizawa silently begging for forgiveness, and only hoped it would be over quickly.

Shinsou slept on the bus with the coaxing of Koda, woke up five minutes later with the sound of eldritch sobs echoing in his ears and soft pats on his back from his teammate.

_ You were having a nightmare, _ Koda whispered, mouth a quivering, shy line.  _ Are you okay? _

_ Fine. _ He scratched out the lie between his teeth, throat closing from the burden of it. Seeing Izuku had been all he had ever wanted for a long time, and in getting his wish he didn’t regret it one bit. Having a name to a face was satisfying, exciting, intriguing. No, he was ecstatic to have met Izuku properly and knew it could happen again at any time. The kid was taking such great strides, and Shinsou was so proud of him for it. It was just the basement. He shouldn’t have followed Aizawa, that hadn’t been something he should’ve been witness to. Shinsou had no doubt Izuku’s gut wrenching sobs and otherworldly voice would haunt him for the rest of his life.

Present Mic was silent at the front of the bus, arm slung around the back of the seat and tapping away at it. Shinsou could spot the nervous habit a mile away, and he swallowed hard to help loosen his throat. He had to know if Present Mic had been playing dumb that day.

_ Present Mic? _ he asked, and his teacher turned like he was hoping to be talked to.

_ Yes? _

_ Did you know? About All Might and Izuku? _

Present Mic frowned.  _ You should be thinking about the test, _ he scolded gently, but scratched his neck all the same.  _ Not until after all of this. _

Shinsou sighed through his nose, but the relief he felt outweighed his disappointment by leaps and bounds. At least Present Mic hadn’t just turned a blind eye to everything, pretended he hadn’t known and let the students flounder on purpose. He went quiet, glanced at Koda, and started signing.

‘He’s right,’ he said with his hands, moving in practiced motions. ‘Thanks for letting me sleep, but we should talk strategy.’

Koda nodded. They ducked behind the seats to silently talk where they wouldn’t be watched and did their best to avoid the topic of Izuku.

It was not an easy feat. The subject lingered in the air, waiting to pounce on any hesitation, any lull in conversation, and Shinsou felt the need to keep the pace up until they arrived at their test sight. It helped in formulating a plan but also hindered his concentration. Even as they weathered Present Mic’s loud, high pitched screeching, even as Shinsou gave Koda a pep talk to send out a swarm of bugs, even as they rushed to the gate and were one of the first groups to pass, Shinsou felt only minor warmth and excitement. The bus ride back was a quiet affair, as was being checked over by Recovery Girl. A quick kiss to his forehead healed the damage in his ears, and he was left with a drowsy Koda to watch the rest of the matches. Everyone else was having a much harder time than they did.

Tsuyu and Shoji, admittedly, were his first focus. He hoped the two calmest in the class would finally snap and reveal some special, hidden strength, just for the sole purpose of tearing All Might a new asshole, but the noiseless recording told a different story. They were struggling, that much was obvious, ducked low and talking quickly to one another, looking grim and pained as Tsuyu clutched the pair of handcuffs close to her. She handed them over to Shoji and leaped away. His eyes wandered. Bakugo seemed to be struggling quite a bit with Kaminari, hilariously enough. They seemed to disagree entirely on their plan of action, and with Bakugo’s garbage communication skills and Kaminari’s infuriating stubbornness, Shinsou didn’t see either one of them passing. They both kept dragging the other down in favor of their own plan until there was more fighting amongst themselves than against the teacher. Power Loader looked tired already, and Shinsou laughed to himself, merciless.

Todoroki and Jirou, to his surprise, were actually doing really well. He wasn’t sure if it was because of Aizawa’s exhaustion or their teamwork but they were killing it. Jirou tracked Aizawa’s movements through sound, focused all her energy into listening for his light footsteps, and Todoroki steered Aizawa in a certain direction with well-aimed blasts of ice and fire depending on their own movements. It didn’t seem like their goal was to capture him, and Shinsou agreed with the plan. Aizawa was superior in close combat anyway.

His eyes flitted back and forth across the different monitors, always returning to Tsuyu and Shoji to track their progress. He wasn’t surprised when Todoroki and Jirou passed by making it through the gate, thoroughly impressed that they hadn’t run into Aizawa once. Aoyama and Sero passed shortly after with the help of Sero’s tape to keep them grounded.

_ Hey Shinsou? _

Koda’s voice was small, barely heard. He hummed, grinned sharply when Bakugo shoved Kaminari so hard he ate asphalt.

_ Will we see Izuku again? _

Shinsou shrugged.  _ Why not? He did it again before we left, remember? _

_ Yeah. _

Shinsou abandoned the monitors to look at Koda, frowning.  _ You don’t sound happy about it. _

_ No, no! _ Koda waved his hands quickly, and Shinsou felt a bit of guilt gnaw at his stomach. He hadn’t realized how accusing that had sounded until it left his mouth. _ I’m happy he can finally talk to us. It’s just - _

_ Hard? _ Shinsou guessed. He wasn’t surprised when Koda nodded.  _ Sure. But that’s what we’re here for, right? To make it better? _

_ For him or us? _ Koda asked, voice barely a whisper, and Shinsou shrugged again, turning back to the monitor.

_ Both. _

A happy Izuku was not only a treat, but it meant the class had no distractions so they could learn. Shinsou wouldn’t trade Izuku for the world, would trade in his tears for Izuku’s smile any day, and not just because it helped them focus in the classroom. It was a win-win as far as he was concerned. He cared for Izuku’s well being as well as his grades.

Ochako and Tokoyami passed in an impressive display of hand-to-hand from Ochako. Ashido and Hagakure passed getting the cuffs on Snipe, thanks to Hagakure’s invisibility. Sato, Kirishima, and Ojiro seemed to be struggling a bit from Cementoss’ shear strength, but Ojiro was talking to the other two, most likely forming a plan.

He heard Koda gasp next to him.  _ Oh no, Momo. _

_ Which monitor? _

_ Bottom right. _

Shinsou found it and winced. Mineta had passed out, blood spurting out of his nose and a look of pure bliss on his face. He could just make out Mineta mumbling to himself. Shinsou was eternally glad he couldn’t hear him.

_ Poor Momo, _ he muttered.  _ Should’ve been given an actual partner. _ Koda sighed but didn’t comment, and Shinsou respected Koda’s kindness. He didn’t possess it himself.

He heard talking just outside the medical station and Todoroki stepped in shortly after, Jirou hot on his heels with a wicked grin on her face.

_ We heard you pass, _ she greeted.  _ Did you see us? _

_ I did, _ he said, grinning back.  _ You guys kicked ass. _

_ I know! _ _ I still can’t believe it. I’m glad  _ someone  _ can celebrate with me._ She shot a playful glare at Todoroki’s back, and he shrugged like he could feel it.

_ I knew we would do well _ was all Todoroki said on the matter, quickly settling next to him and Koda so he could watch the monitors.  _ Tsuyu and Shoji aren’t finished. _

_ I know. I think they’re a bit lost on what to do, not that I blame them. _ His eyes flickered around, trying to search for their monitor again and finding it a moment later.  _ Tsuyu especially looks torn. _

Todoroki hummed but didn’t say anything else, eyes dark. Shinsou didn’t have to wonder what he was thinking, knew it wasn’t too far from his thoughts on All Might earlier.

Sato, Kirishima, and Ojiro barely managed to pass, all three of them out of breath as they stepped through the gate with minutes to spare. Bakugo and Kaminari were worse for wear, poor Yaomomo was struggling to avoid Midnight as it was, and Tsuyu and Shoji were in a desperate scramble to get past All Might’s towering figure, blocking the gate so they couldn’t pass that way easily which - in Shinsou’s humble opinion - was complete horseshit. But with two measly minutes on the clock, Tsuyu and Shoji out-maneuvered the glamorized bastard and whizzed through the gate. Shinsou didn’t hold back a cheer for them, even as Sero and Aoyama stepped into the medical station, looking bewildered but amused. Ochako and Tokoyami arrived shortly after, quickly going for the cots off to the side to rest.

The clock ticked down to zero. Bakugo, Kaminari, and Yaomomo all looked devastated or enraged as the buzzer sounded to end the test for them. As bad as he felt for them - not Mineta though, the perverted little shit - he couldn’t help but cackle at the look of pure rage on Bakugo’s face. At least he knew what Shinsou had felt during the Sports Festival.

He couldn’t wait to tell Izuku about it all. Maybe Izuku might appear again from excitement alone. If nothing else, he was certainly excited for the congratulatory pats in store for him later.

**Author's Note:**

> for those wondering, I did upload on the 26th! the series didn’t go up since I deleted the update informing of my break, so on the outside nothing changed. It’s nothing particularly important, but it is a bit of fluff, so its there if you’d like <3


End file.
